Puppet MastersS


Boat

Countering China? Indo-Pacific region becomes the Pentagon's new priority

Darius Shahtahmasebi
RT
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:17 UTC
US navy boats
© Flickr/US Department of Defense
After devastating the Middle East through sanctions, warfare, and the backing of extremists to fight proxy wars, the Indo-Pacific region - not the Middle East - is now the Pentagon's "priority" region.

Just this week, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper made the call to expand base locations in the Pacific region while speaking at the Naval War College, dubbing the Indo-Pacific theatre "our priority theatre." The remarks were clearly part of the Pentagon's wider goal of curbing and containing China's expanding influence throughout the region.

Esper made it evident that the US had its eye on a number of key locations in the Indo-Pacific region, in which he would be looking to invest "more time and resources into certain regions we haven't been to in the past."

While it is not so apparent what those regions or locations are, there are some glaring possibilities that come to mind, including Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and even some of the smaller Pacific Island nations less known to the US public such as Palau. Palau is a likely candidate, given the Western media has already applauded its "standing up to a giant" over the Taiwan question.
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Arrow Down

Despite violating FBI rules (and his own contract!) there will be no prosecution for James Comey for leaked memos


RT
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:54 UTC
comeysmirk
© Reuters/Clodagh KilcoyneFormer FBI director James Comey
Former FBI director James Comey set a "dangerous example" and acted out of self-interest when he leaked memos documenting private meetings with President Donald Trump to the media, a scathing new DOJ report concludes.

Comey violated both the FBI policies and his own employment agreement when he leaked sensitive information about Trump to the New York Times, according to DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report, released Thursday. Despite the clear findings of wrongdoing, however, the former FBI director will face no prosecution for the mishandling of memos.

Comey's memos detailed his private interactions with Trump, including a claim that the president asked him to "let go" of an investigation into his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn.

The information leaked by Comey was enthusiastically cited in the media as proof of "collusion" between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia — a narrative which Comey helped to promote while frequently lecturing Americans on morality and justice following his firing.

Comey admitted in 2017 that he gave sensitive but unclassified information to a friend with instructions for that person to share it with a reporter. He also admitted that he did this with the intention of ensuring Trump would be investigated — a ploy which was successful, as former special counsel Robert Mueller was drafted to investigate claims of Russian "collusion" soon after.

Comment: See also:

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X

DOJ IG Horowitz: All four Carter Page FISA warrants were illegally obtained

Daniel Chaitin
Washington Examiner
Wed, 28 Aug 2019 09:08 UTC
Carter Page
© Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesCarter Page
The Justice Department inspector general has determined all four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrants against onetime Trump campaign aide Carter Page were illegally obtained, attorney Joe diGenova said this week.

In an investigation that began last year, Inspector General Michael Horowitz examined the DOJ's and FBI's compliance with legal requirements, as well as policies and procedures in applications filed with the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court related to Page as part of a larger counterintelligence inquiry into President Trump's campaign.

Back in May, diGenova, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said the three FISA warrant extensions against Page were illegally obtained, adding, "The only question now is whether or not the first FISA was illegally obtained."

Now diGenova says Horowitz made the same determination about the warrant that started it all. "I can report categorically that the inspector general has found that all four FISA warrants were illegal. They were based on false information supplied to the FISA Court. And Michael Horowitz has concluded that all four FISA warrants were illegal," he told WMAL on Monday.

Comment: See also:

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Star of David

Israeli drone strikes in Iraq likely launched from SDF-held Syria says Baghdad

David Hearst
Middle East Eye
Tue, 27 Aug 2019 14:37 UTC
Iraqi bases attack mapIraq's intelligence services believe that five recent drone attacks on Iraqi paramilitaries were launched from bases under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia's control in north Syria, an official told Middle East Eye.

The Iraqi official, who has knowledge of the latest intelligence briefing from Baghdad's security services, said the strikes were conducted by Israel, with the understanding of the SDF and backing of Saudi Arabia.

Since July, a series of explosions have hit bases, weapons depots and a convoy belonging to the Hashd al-Shaabi (PMF), a grouping of mostly Shia militias with close ties to Iran. The most recent, on Sunday, saw two unmanned aircraft strike one of the PMF's positions near the border with Syria, killing one fighter and severely wounding another, according to the group.

According to the senior official, the plan to strike the Iran-backed paramilitaries in Iraq was hatched when Thamer al-Sabhan, the Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs, visited SDF-held northeastern Syria in June. There Sabhan, who is known to be one of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's top lieutenants, laid the groundwork by offering the initially reticent SDF funds in return for their base being used as a launchpad for the strikes.
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Target

Trump eyeing China for century-old debt in a new trade war maneuver


RT
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 05:16 UTC
ChinaCurrencyTrump
© Unknown/KJN
The Trump administration may be eyeing long-defaulted Chinese bonds as a weapon in its ongoing trade war with Beijing, according to people who hold the antique debt and say they've met with the president to discuss it.

Trump's top trade warriors are "studying" the possibility of calling in century-old debts incurred by China before the nation went communist, according to a Bloomberg report published on Thursday. China doesn't recognize the debt, of course, and decades of attempts to collect by owners of the aging bonds (which sell on eBay as collectors' items) have amounted to naught, but with a full-blown economic battle between Washington and Beijing raging, desperate times may call for desperate measures.

China owes over $1 trillion, adjusted for inflation, interest and other fees, on the long-defaulted debts, according to Jonna Bianco, whose American Bondholders Foundation (ABF) represents holders of the seemingly worthless paper. Bianco has been pushing for 18 years to convince the US to force China to honor the certificates, roping a stable of former government officials into taking up the cause.
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Russian Flag

Here we go again: Israeli opposition leader's phone reportedly 'breached by Russian hackers'


Sputnik
Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:05 UTC
russian hackers
If you're about to call bonkers on this, you're not the only one: the same Israeli party which was purportedly hacked by villainous Russians dismissed the report, citing its suspiciously convenient timing.

Just when you think the world had had enough of the constant 'Russian hacker' narrative that US politics and mainstream media keep pushing without coherent proof, some Israelis decided to kick that excruciatingly dead horse just one more time.


Comment: Israelis seem to have a remarkable affection for dead horses. Case in point: "anti-Semitism."


According to a report by Israel's Channel 12, tech security audit company CGI - hired by the Blue and White party to check for cybersecurity flaws - came to the conclusion that those notoriously pesky Russian hackers had breached the phones of Benny Gantz, party leader and main political opponent of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as phones belonging to Hod Betzer, Ido Har-Tuv and Ronen Moshe - Gantz's chief of staff, campaign leader and adviser, correspondingly.

"This is a powerful hack the likes of which we have never seen before," CGI gushed in their summary, according to The Jerusalem Post.

Instead of ringing alarms, however, the party took the CGI report with a big bag of salt and turned to other cyber experts for a second opinion. Why? Because the CGI findings come suspiciously close to the upcoming 9 September Parliamentary election.

Comment: According to Moshe Yalon, one of the leaders of the bloc:
"Neither Russians nor Iranians hacked our phones. What we see here is an attempt to divert attention from important issues...to a story that did not happen", one of the leaders of the bloc, former defence minister Moshe Yalon, said in an interview to Army Radio.
...
Meanwhile, a Russian diplomatic source responded to the rumours by saying that they are not worth commenting on and are fake.


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Handcuffs

Planned Hong Kong protest cancelled after arrest of key 'color-revolution' activists

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:11 UTC
Agnes Chow, Nathan Law, Andy Chan, hong kong color revolution
Agnes Chow, Nathan Law, Andy Chan

Agnes Chow, Nathan Law, Andy Chan

Summary: Saturday's planned protest in Hong Kong has been canceled after the arrest of three of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protest leaders on Friday; Joshua Wong, Andy Chan, and Agnes Chow.

CNBC's Eunice Yoon notes that the arrests are being described on Chinese media as a crackdown on "the activists who create chaos in Hong Kong."

Update (0105ET): Saturday's planned protest marking the fifth anniversary of the 2014 event which sparked the Umbrella Movement has been canceled, according to The Guardian.

Comment: Has Beijing's patience finally worn thin with the empire's useful idiots?

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Star of David

Israel threatens 'major military strike' on Gaza if Hamas doesn't accept ceasefire


Sputnik
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 16:55 UTC
bombardeo_gaza_israel
© REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File
The Israeli military and the Palestinian political and militant movement Hamas have engaged in a series of back and forth skirmishes for well over a year now as a result of ongoing protests by Palestinians along the Gaza Strip's border with Israel.

Israel would be willing to grant Gaza economic concessions and ease its blockade of the territory if a long-term ceasefire with Hamas could be reached, but were also "serious" about launching a "major military strike" if militants continue rocket attacks into Israel, Lebanon's al-Akhbar newspaper has reported, citing a Hamas source said to be familiar with negotiations between the group and officials from Egyptian intelligence.

Hamas negotiators reportedly responded that the group was "not afraid" of Israeli threats, but promised to pass the details of the Egyptian proposal on to their leadership.
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Jet2

No F-35? No problem! Turkey in talks with Russia on buying Su-57 fighters


RT
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 17:01 UTC
Sukhoi Su-57
© Sputnik / Iliya PitalevA Sukhoi Su-57 multi-role fighter during the rehearsal of the Victory Parade flyovers in Moscow.
Ankara is holding talks on purchasing Su-57 jets from Moscow, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. But Turkey's foreign minister stressed his country is not giving up hopes on the US unfreezing the F-35 deal.

"Our ministries continue to have meetings with their counterparts [on this issue]," Erdogan told reporters on Friday, after being asked whether Turkey will purchase Su-57s.

The president's words came a few days after he personally inspected the fifth-generation plane during an air show outside Moscow, where its export model was unveiled for the first time.

Turkey began eyeing Russian warplanes after its NATO ally, the US, refused to sell it F-35 jet fighters. Washington was trying to pressure Ankara into scrapping a contract to buy the Russian S-400 air defense missile system. Turkish officials refused to budge, insisting the country is free to get weapons from whoever it chooses.

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu noted that Turkey prefers sticking to its original plan of getting the jets from the US, as well as remaining in the F-35 program. However, the country will explore other options, if that does not happen, he said.

Comment: This is the new American foreign policy: throw a self-righteous fit, then watch as your emotionalism ends up making things worse than they would have been had you just shut your mouth and let things be.

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Pirates

Russian UN envoy: West treating Syrian al-Qaeda terrorists as 'innocent babies'


Sputnik
Fri, 30 Aug 2019 16:51 UTC
nusra in idlib
© REUTERS / Mohamad Bayoush
The Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, said in a Thursday statement at the UN Security Council meeting that "every time the Syrian forces gain advantage on the ground and start to push terrorists", Western countries "calls to stop armed action".

"Our Western colleagues amplify their moans and calls to stop armed action, as if forgetting about our shared decisions to fight terrorism in an uncompromising manner. Then, as you could see today, terrorists become innocent babies [...] Consensus in favor of a new peaceful Syria owned by the Syrian people rather than Western protégés and mercenaries is already in place. Terrorists and those who support them are not the ones to hold the initiative", Polyanskiy stressed.

The UK Political Coordinator to the United Nations, Stephen Hickey, claimed earlier on Thursday during the UNSC meeting that "there remain more babies than terrorists in Idlib".


Comment: Whether or not this is precisely true, it has been just as true in every theater of the war on terror in which the UK has participated. Neither Hickey nor his political overlords care about the babies. They only care about keeping their Western protégés and mercenaries in control. They just know that people care about babies, so they use them for PR purposes, whether or not they're actually in danger.

Meanwhile, despite the crocodile tears from snakes like Hickey, the Syrians are succeeding in liberating more towns from al-Qaeda (10+ villages east of Khan Sheikhoun).

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